I’m not sure who exactly the questioner is, but Jake Tapper from CNN just tweeted this short interview with Mattis on an Air Force plane a few minutes ago where he was asked if he was a Democrat, as Trump suggested.
And his answer was awesome:
Q: Are you a Democrat?
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
SEC. MATTIS: You know, we're all built on our formative experiences.
When I was 18, I joined the Marine Corps, and in the U.S. military we are proudly apolitical....
2/ ...By that, I mean that in our duties, we were brought up to obey the elected commander in chief, whoever that is. And we've seen, over those -- since I was in the military longer than some of you have been alive, I have seen Republicans and Democrats come and go....
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
3/... Where am I today? I'm a member of the president's administration. And you have seen that President Trump's military policies, security policies, reaping significant bipartisan support....
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
4/... So my role...and I realize you all write about tension between this person and that, this administration and that party, and this sort of thing. But when you think 83 percent of the U.S. Congress voting the same way on an issue put forward by the Republican president...
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
5/ ... you can see that my portfolio is bipartisan by its very basis, and that is the protection of the United States. That's what President Trump has told me to do, and I eagerly carry that out, alongside probably the most selfless young men and women...
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
6/ ... -- not all young; some old men and women, too -- civilian and military, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines working together.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
So that's where I stand. That defines me.
7/ Q: I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but you haven't registered Republican or Democrat. Is that what I'm hearing you say?
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
SEC. MATTIS: I've never registered for any political party.
###
“…you can see that my portfolio is bipartisan by its very basis, and that is the protection of the United States. That’s what President Trump has told me to do, and I eagerly carry that out…”
Boom! Mattis is patriotic to the bone. And you can believe that if he were serving as Secretary of Defense during the Obama Administration, those four men wouldn’t have been left behind in Benghazi. You can take that to the bank.
Mattis also emphasized that he’s on Trump’s team and they’ve never talked about him leaving:
Mattis: “I'm on his team. We have never talked about me leaving.” Talking aboard an Air Force plane on his way to Vietnam he said, “and as you can see right here, we're on our way. We just continue doing our job.”
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 16, 2018
So there you go, from the man himself.